Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Trevor & Julie Peterson" <06peterson AT cua.edu>]

Chris wrote:

> Both Hebrew and Aramaic passages appear in Jewish prayer books.  Would

> someone offer a short list easy identifiers so that a Hebrew beginner 
> can realize he's looking at Aramaic, not Hebrew?

Looking for alef at the end of a lot of words has already been
mentioned. Another common clue is to look for relative pronouns. In
Hebrew they should take the form asher or she-, in Aramaic, di or d-.
> 
> An earlier contribution noted that the Kaddish is Aramaic with a 
> concluding Hebrew verse.  I believe the prayer preceding the removal 
> of the Torah from
> the ark is also in Aramaic.  Why is this, I wonder?

Well, as has already been discussed, some of these prayers may have been
devised in Aramaic at a time when Aramaic was the more commonly spoken
language, so that the people would be sure to understand them, even if
they hadn't learned Hebrew very well.

Trevor Peterson
CUA/Semitics